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UK man finds Huntsman spider in his house


Still Waters

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One of the world's largest spiders has been discovered in southern England. Startled residents contacted the RSPCA after discovering a Huntsman spider the size of a man's hand on the wall of a house in Sevenoaks, Kent.

The spiders are not indigenous to the UK – they are usually found in Asia, Africa and Latin America – and it is unknown how this one got to Kent.

RSPCA animal collection officer Louis Horton attended the house after initially thinking the call was a joke.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/monster-huntsman-spider-apos-nasty-153705797.html

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Ok, time to move.

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Probably came in on an exotic fruit or plant shipment, not uncommon. That's how they became established in some parts of the Southeast US. 

"Huntsman spiders can give a nasty bite..."

Actually, no. Huntsman spiders, despite their size, have weak venom. I've never, ever heard of any serious envenomation from a Huntsman.

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10 minutes ago, Not Your Huckleberry said:

Probably came in on an exotic fruit or plant shipment, not uncommon. That's how they became established in some parts of the Southeast US. 

"Huntsman spiders can give a nasty bite..."

Actually, no. Huntsman spiders, despite their size, have weak venom. I've never, ever heard of any serious envenomation from a Huntsman.

My sisters ex (the father in law spilt from my sisters husbands mom) step father in law got bit. His was bad but that was due to a reaction to the venom. One of my nieces (2nd oldest she was 12 at the time is now 26) got bit by one and was fine, just sore from the bite.

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That's interesting, are they sure it was a Huntsman? Not doubting you, just genuinely curious as I'm still not aware of any bite from them that resulted in any serious symptoms. Could've been secondary infection is what I'm guessing. Some folks can be a little more sensitive than others, but the peptide chains in spider venom are too short to induce a true allergic reaction. 

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Wait...you can call animal control to remove a spider? 

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Just now, ChaosRose said:

Wait...you can call animal control to remove a spider? 

Probably only when they're the size of a small dog. :wacko:

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Pretty sure that entire garden would have been engulfed in flames shortly thereafter if it were me. And the house. And the neighbourhood. Nope, nope. NOPE.

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1 hour ago, kevinlea said:

I had one in my bedroom once, lucky enough I saw and got rid of it before I went to bed.

Welcome back!

:)

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17 hours ago, Not Your Huckleberry said:

"Huntsman spiders can give a nasty bite..."

Actually, no. Huntsman spiders, despite their size, have weak venom. I've never, ever heard of any serious envenomation from a Huntsman.

I'm Aussie and we get these all over the place, it's one of the most commonly found spiders over here.

I believe the nasty bite was referring to the pain as opposed to any venom. Frankly I wasn't aware they even had venom but it makes sense. They hurt like b*****y when you get bitten though -.- would not recommend.

I just love how the initial sentence in the article said "huge" spider when it was only the size of a palm ^_^ that's their normal size. The big ones are freaky, can be the size of a dinner plate and make you want to run for the hills :blink:.

I assume they don't get many large spiders in the UK?

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18 hours ago, Not Your Huckleberry said:

That's interesting, are they sure it was a Huntsman? Not doubting you, just genuinely curious as I'm still not aware of any bite from them that resulted in any serious symptoms. Could've been secondary infection is what I'm guessing. Some folks can be a little more sensitive than others, but the peptide chains in spider venom are too short to induce a true allergic reaction. 

It was a Huntsman and it was a reaction not an infection, he went to hospital to get it all checked. People can have an allergic reaction to anything. He was fine after a week.   

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On 5/29/2017 at 10:59 AM, Atomical said:

I am gonna need a bigger book... hmm...

Forget the book, use the whole bookcase.:tsu:

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Must remember to buy a flamethrower next. I hope I don't need licence for stuff like that?

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On 5/29/2017 at 8:56 AM, ChaosRose said:

Wait...you can call animal control to remove a spider? 

On 5/29/2017 at 9:17 AM, Future ghost said:

Probably only when they're the size of a small dog. :wacko:

We have some good sized critters around here but if I saw one of those on my wall I'm pretty sure I'd call someone! Yikes.

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On 31/05/2017 at 6:54 AM, goodgodno said:

When I lived in Oz i knew of many people who were happy for one or two huntsman to hang around their houses, due to the fact that they are relatively clean (non web spinning) and helped keep the more dangerous spiders like red backs at bay.

Yeah :) keeping a few around definitely helps to get rid of the other nasties. Huntsmen are actually really docile spiders and only get antsy when cornered, unless it's a massive one :blink: that's when they're a bit unpredictable. I would much rather have an average-sized huntsman in my house (like the one described in the OP) than a redback, that's for sure.

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10 hours ago, Unfortunately said:

Yeah :) keeping a few around definitely helps to get rid of the other nasties. Huntsmen are actually really docile spiders and only get antsy when cornered, unless it's a massive one :blink: that's when they're a bit unpredictable. I would much rather have an average-sized huntsman in my house (like the one described in the OP) than a redback, that's for sure.

Cool. I guess if you live in a place where it's not unexpected, it wouldn't give you as much of a shock. It sounds like they're a bit like wolf spiders here. A bit alarming when you see one but they are good at pest control and aren't very venomous. When I see one I usually let it be. 

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 Talking of huntsmen This blokes response or better still the little kids

 

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On 05/30/2017 at 4:45 AM, Unfortunately said:

I assume they don't get many large spiders in the UK?

No we consider spiders larger than a golf ball to be a 'decent size'. We dont have ride-able arachnids.

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5 hours ago, Matt221 said:

We have ride in arachnids

I want one.

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1 hour ago, Calibeliever said:

I want one.

Me to i was lucky enough to actually go on a John Deere dealership open day show casing all the're range and actually drove one really weird thing to operate. 

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  • 3 weeks later...
 

I'm in Australia,everyone here is familiar with the huntsman.they can be as big,or bigger than your WHOLE HAND.i am terrified of spiders,especialy the huntman as they can jump.you can also use a whole can of spray and it wont kill them.in summer I always keep my eye out for them,and have a mini heart attack when I see one.this past summer I came across 2female redbacks out in my back yard-1 was under my dogs' bowl.also found a male redback inside my mates shoe at his house,the shoe was in his wardrobe.

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